Ananya Vinay, 12, wins Scripps National Spelling Bee, "marocain" is winning word

OXON HILL, Md. --  Twelve-year-old Ananya Vinay has won the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee. 

The sixth-grader from Fresno, California, won by spelling "marocain," a French word for dress fabric made of ribbed crepe. She gets more than $40,000 in cash and prizes.

Runner-up Rohan Rajeev missed the word "marram," a Scandinavian-derived word for beach grass.

Ananya's victory was the first time since 2013 that the bee has declared a single champion. It ended in a tie for three consecutive years.

The bee added a written tiebreaker test this year, but it didn't come into play.

Scripps usually takes about 10 spellers to the final rounds, but the competition was paused with 15 kids left after more than four grueling hours on stage Thursday. Among the finalists was Tejas Muthusamy of Glen Allen, Virginia, who had two previous top-10 finishes.